In line with a recent increase in the scale of the advertising market, broadcasting companies that present dramas, movies and sports broadcasts are greatly interested in indirect advertising (or product placement) or virtual advertising that can increase an advertising effect by inserting an image of an advertising item into a drama or sports broadcast.
Generally, indirect advertising is a marketing technique that indirectly advertises an advertising target product by presenting the advertising target product when a moving image, such as a movie, a drama or the like, is produced. Indirect advertising is a method of exposing an advertising target product in a moving image without incompatibility by disposing the advertising target product in the form of a prop when the moving image is produced, thereby naturally exhibiting an advertising effect while preventing viewers from having a sense of viewing advertising.
In contrast, virtual advertising refers to advertising that is performed by inserting a virtual advertisement image of an advertising target product or the like, which is not present when a moving image is produced, into a moving image of a movie, a drama, a sports broadcast or the like, using a virtual imaging method.
Virtual imaging is an image processing and synthesizing technique that inserts an image into a specific space or virtual space in real time during the live broadcasting of various types of broadcast media and images and performs processing so that the inserted image is fixed at a specific point using tracking technology and seems to be actually included in a corresponding image screen. This image processing technique is widely being used in live sports broadcasts and live event broadcasts, and is also applied to various application fields, such as advertising and the provision of game information images.
Virtual advertising is performed by applying the above image processing technique to an advertising field. A virtual advertisement image is received from an advertiser or generated using computer graphics, and the virtual advertisement image is inserted into an original moving image, thereby exposing the advertisement image to a viewer who is viewing the moving image. However, the size of a virtual advertising region for insertion may vary depending on the angle of a camera or the posture of a virtual advertisement object, and thus such a characteristic needs to be taken into account when a virtual advertisement image to be inserted into the virtual advertising region is selected.
Furthermore, the calculation of the advertising expenses of a virtual advertisement is an issue of great importance to an advertiser. However, since there are no clear criteria, there is difficulty calculating objective advertising expenses that can be accepted by the advertiser.
If the level at which a virtual advertisement is exposed in video image content can be objectively measured and advertising expenses can be transparently calculated based on the exposure level, an advertiser can trust the calculated advertising expenses.
Related preceding technologies include Korean Patent No. 10-1105476 published on Jan. 5, 2012 (entitled “Method of Providing Advertising Service via Synthesis of Moving Image) and Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2013-0035151 published on Apr. 8, 2013 (entitled “Advertising Service Provision Method that Differentially Charges Advertising Expenses for Outdoor Advertising).